The Buffalo Sabres will play the Detroit Red Wings on Friday, March 27 at KeyBank Center, aiming to end a two-game overtime losing streak.
The matchup comes as the Sabres look to maintain their strong position in the standings. Despite recent setbacks, they remain confident about their ability to rebound. Captain Rasmus Dahlin said after Wednesday’s loss against Boston, “We lost too many battles. We weren’t skating out there. We made it way too easy for them to play against us. That’s not how we should play.” The team has not lost three straight games since December and is focused on moving forward quickly.
Alex Tuch echoed this sentiment, saying, “It’s all about find it, fix it, forget about it, that our team’s been really good about. Now, we just move on.” The Sabres have built an impressive record of 33-6-4 since December 9 by relying on contributions from all four lines and maintaining a high level of effort throughout games.
Coach Lindy Ruff provided updates ahead of Friday’s game: Noah Ostlund will miss the match due to an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day; Tanner Pearson will enter the lineup for his second appearance with Buffalo. Goaltender Alex Lyon is set to start against his former team after playing two seasons in Detroit; he holds a 6-0-1 record with a .910 save percentage since the Olympic break despite allowing six goals in Anaheim recently.
Several players are approaching milestones or stand out statistically this season: Tage Thompson is one point away from reaching 400 career points; Zach Benson has recorded points in four consecutive games; Jason Zucker leads the team with ten power-play goals among his total of twenty-two goals this season; Sam Carrick has won over half of his faceoffs since joining Buffalo; Beck Malenstyn ranks seventh leaguewide with 247 hits.
On Thursday, rookie defenseman Zach Metsa was loaned to Rochester so he can get more playing time while Conor Timmins returns from injury for penalty-killing duties. Ruff said about Metsa: “The best thing, these next three or four days at least, we’re not gonna practice – get [Metsa] playing time when Rochester’s playing. He’ll play 20-plus minutes (a game), which will be great for him.” Metsa can be recalled at any time as needed during the remainder of Buffalo’s campaign.
Detroit enters Friday’s contest having slipped outside playoff position following a difficult March where they averaged just 2.64 goals per game and struggled on special teams despite captain Dylan Larkin returning from injury earlier this week. Their recent trade acquisition Justin Faulk has contributed modestly since arriving from St. Louis.
Buffalo holds a perfect record against Detroit so far this season including a notable comeback win in November—Colten Ellis started both previous matchups while several skaters posted multi-point performances against Red Wings goaltender John Gibson.
Tuch concluded regarding Detroit: “I think we’re both really different teams from that point in the year, and they’re gonna be fighting for their lives.”
